Whispers in the Dark
by XxFrostbitten ReaperxX
Summary: "You're a cat!" "No, that's an illusion." "You've been stalking me!" "If you want to call it that." "Why?" "To warn you." "So you stalk me?" She grins mischievously. "Something far darker than nightmares will soon be upon this world." Jack really hates being an all powerful spirit sometimes, as it always brings some sort of trouble. Currently, it's in the form of a cat. [JackxOC]


**Title:  
**Whispers in the Dark

**Chapter:  
**Ignorance is Bliss (Or Not)

**Pairing:  
**Jack Frost x OC

**Story Summary:  
**"You're a cat!" "No, that's an illusion." "You've been stalking me!" She shrugged. "If you want to call it that." He glared. "Why?" "To warn you." "So you stalk me?" She grins mischievously. When a black cat stalks Jack Frost for nearly two years, the spirit can't help but feel very disturbed about it. Why is he worrying over an animal anyway?! It's ridiculous! It could very likely not be the same one! But every time he turns around to ignore it, it's there. Those deep, unforgettable orange eyes boring into him that he swears is trying to tell him something, but he doesn't know what. So when he finally has the nerve to follow it one night he is very surprised to see that the entire time the Spirit of Halloween has had her eyes on not just him, but the Guardians and other spirits too. "Something far darker than nightmares will soon be upon the world, Jack Frost." She warns. And she is their intended target.

**Notes:  
**Based off the books and movie, as well as some other typical legends.

_**Disclaimer:  
**__**Characters and plot I own are copyrighted © to me. Everything I don't own belongs to DreamWorks Animation and their respected owners.**_

* * *

_**XxxX**_

_"Into the night_

_Desperate and broken_

_The sound of a fight_

_Father has spoken."_

_"Kings and Queens" - 30 Seconds to Mars_

_**XxxX**_

* * *

The air within the realm was damp and dark, a very oppressive haze that forbade an inkling of light or clear thought . This, however, did not disturb the four creatures standing just inside the cave of a ravine as they were practically made of the same hazy nature. Their nonexistent eyes lingering on a body, not at all fazed by the heavy silence. They held her there, limbs to the wall, in the dark purple mass of intangible substance that made their world. The forward most one, garbed in nothing but a flowing gray robe that looked to be fog itself, tendrils flowing in every gentle direction, came forward, its face obscured by the dark folds of its hood.

A decrepit hand snuck out of the beings left sleeve to barely graze the soft flesh of the girls' cheek. It dare not touch her, not just yet. She wasn't drained properly and the energy razing off her skin was thus still threatening.

_Such a beautiful power you hold,_ came its deathly sweet whispering echo. It smirked as she shifted uncomfortably, a pained expression taking over her once placid face from the gathering of ominous aura.

_It will be all ours very soon_. Retracting its limb, it faces the ones who had brought her there. Five very large and blacker than shadow canines sat obediently on either side of the girl, eyes a terrible scarlet as they waited for acknowledgement. The creature knelt down to place a hand on the leader who snarled his greeting.

_Well done my pet. But the rewards will come at a later time for your mission is not yet finished. Now, what of the spirits?_

The barghest made a scoffing noise deep within its throat, baring its sharp, dirty yellow teeth. _Not a one, Guardian or no, suspect a thing._

_And the human presences?_

_Ignorance is bliss._

It hummed and stood._ Until competence shows its head._ Turning to its disciples in red, it waved a hand. _Go and find Our Lady. Tell her preparations have been made and we await for her presence._

If the creature could smirk, it most certainly would have as it dismissed the demonic dogs and watched its minions leave before returning to the girl. If it could, it would have touched the fair skin of the young adult in its dwelling, wanting to embrace her warmth and snatch the living skin from her body to replace its own dying flesh. But it valued its life too much to risk exposure to such strong magic. So all it could do was ghost over the flesh of her cheek as if treasuring something very precious. In this case, it was.

_Very soon indeed._

* * *

_**XxxX**_

* * *

**One Month Earlier**

**August - Ontario, Canada**

He had just finished sketching his newest creation and grinned in accomplishment at the art, holding it up in the fair sunlight. A landscape of a snowy forest clearing covered in brilliant multicolored lights, tendrils of golden wisps flowing through the branches, tiny colorful eggs and fairies dancing in the moonlight, and bucks prancing around. All in great detail.

Jamie Bennett had been waiting years to get this portrait just right to send them to those whom inspired it. And why not an art project to get him motivated.

It had been years since the battle between Pitch and the Guardians. Nearly thirteen, in fact, and Jamie had never but once stopped believing in those who had saved them all.

How could he?

After being dropped off at home by the elves, and waking a few hours later, he could never stop talking about his adventure. He even showed off the souvenirs he had been given over the next few months, explaining where each came from. When no one believed him but his sister and the others who experienced the same venture, he made a point to 'just tell stories' around the holidays as he got older, realizing his parents were beyond believing again. It got to the point, thanks to a certain winter spirit, that Jamie and his sister Sophie would take annual visits to each individuals home. His parents were never the wiser.

He's been to places he'd never thought he'd be able to go. Indonesia where Toothiana's Palace hovers over, Sandman's little dream island off the coast of the eastern ocean, Bunnymund's Warren in Australia, and of course, Santoff Claussen in the North Pole. Even then, on their off time, the Guardians would offer tours of places they thought the kids would enjoy. Hundreds of pictures were taken during these times with a special camera that took photos of even the invisible immortals. Currently, those pictures were stored in photo albums within a box safe at the Pole, a particular one hidden deep within the confines of his closet.

Sophie never forgot either, and he thanked her over and over for never giving up that belief when he did. He had his doubts before, watching his neighborhood friends grow up, lose their faith and move on to other areas, and wondered if he'd end up the same way. Sophie encouraged that he wouldn't if the Guardians were always there, but the doubt consumed him a bit too much to handle, and so, on his eighteenth birthday, he simply didn't believe anymore.

It took a total of six months for both Sophie and the winter spirit to bring him back around, though the damage was done. Jamie vowed never to doubt himself again when he saw the pure fright and hope within his immortal friends' face. A snowball fight, a snow globe to the North Pole, a long and happy group conversation between Guardians and mortals, and an excessive amount of apologizing later, everything went on as if it didn't happen.

Now at the age of twenty-one, a sophomore college student on an art scholarship, he was more than happy to accept that his most dearest and closest friend was an immortal spirit who controlled the winter weather. Sure he had other friends, ones he saw everyday at school or in dorms, but they weren't as imaginative as he still was, even when he tried explaining, in the most professional way he could muster, the existence of such creatures when they came to visit him.

The months were slow as they passed on into summer. It was mid-August when Jamie found himself nestled under a tree in a park, enjoying the sunlight of Oakville, Ontario, Canada, typing away on his laptop after finishing his sketch. He, like the others, had moved from the small town of Burgess, Pennsylvania nearly two years ago to finish his studying, something Sophie was very depressed about. Not for her own benefit, though she'd miss him terribly, but for the snow spirits. At the time, things between them were still healing, a wound he was desperate to fix up. Jamie assured everything would be fine in a while, and it had.

When the news was brought to his friend, Jack Frost was ecstatic. Canada was always colder than the States, barely, if ever, hitting the high eighties and had often visited all year-round. Except in the mid-months during summer, such as now.

Jamie sighed and rested his head against the bark. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Jack in nearly two months, since June. He couldn't blame him though, as much as he missed the happy-go-lucky immortal, the spirit could not handle heat waves very well and made a point in sticking his head in Jamie's mini fridge if it became too much to bear. Maybe he'd give Sophie a call and ask if she's seen him.

A soft mewl had the man turn his head to see a black cat sitting not two feet from him, tail relaxed at its side and eyes concentrated on him in curiosity.

"Hey there little guy," he greeted with a smile, recognizing the orange eyes. "Haven't seen you in a while." He outstretched his hand to rub his fingers along the felines' head. It instantly started to purr, standing up to rub more against him, meowing in content. "Where've you been hiding?"

A beeping alarm suddenly alerted him to his watch, reading six o'clock. Retracting his hand to turn it off, he stretched his arms over his head and yawned mildly as he got his body to start working out of his relaxed state. It was time to head back to the dorms. Gathering all his belongings and stuffing them carefully into the laptop and art case respectively, he stood, stretched once more, strapped the laptop over his shoulder, the art case in hand, and turned to the cat.

"You gonna follow me home again?" It starred up at him with a tilt of its head, the tip of its tail passively flicking up and down. Jamie shrugged and began to trek the hour worth walk towards the college.

Oakville wasn't such a bad place. He liked it actually, a lot. Not too hot, and he absolutely loved the cold. It was almost always green, and there was hardly any crime to worry about. There was always a festival during the seasons and holidays, and many, many art galleries he enjoyed going to. Ever since the Guardians came into his life, he has grown a fascination towards drawing anything related to immortals or mythical creatures. This included the ones he hasn't met yet. They each inspired him so much that he never lost sight of what he wanted to do when he grew up and started a life. Hence his double majors in digital animation and journalism with a full arts scholarships to Canada's top animations college, Sheridan.

He planned on making children's' books and movies about imagination, spirits, and guardians. He already had one going.

"Jamie!"

Thrown from humming a happy tune twenty minutes into his walk, his eyebrows rose in confusion at the sound of his name. He barely turned around to address the speaker before being tackled in a hug by a short brunette girl.

"Whoa!" He held away his art case and laughed, encircling his other arm immediately around the female. "Well hello there to you to, Gene. Where did you come from?" An excited grin was plastered to the girls' face as she pulled away, gripping his hand and practically jumping up and down in glee.

Her brown eyes sparkled. "I was in town with my grandma. We were just heading out and you will never believe what the city is posting!" In her excitement, it was hard not to laugh at how prominent her normally light accent came through.

"You mean besides my pretty face?" he grinned as she huffed and slapped his arm.

"Last I checked, a mirror broke as soon as you came into frame."

He feigned being stabbed in the heart, flinched and everything. "That hurts, Gene. Right here." He made dying noises and she smacked him in the arm again, gaining a laugh. "All right, all right. I'll bite." He leaned on a foot and put a hand on his hip. "What are they posting?"

"My play!"

His eyes widened. "Are you serious!?"

"Yeah! We won the competition!"

"Oh my God, that's great!" Jamie set down the art case and wrapped his arms around the girl again, spinning her in his own excitement. "You did it! You did it!" He set her down. "I'm so happy for you! When's the show?"

Breathless, Gene giggled. "It's in two months, enough time for us to practice the given routine."

"What's the theme?"

"I'm not so sure but I'm so excited! We get details tomorrow!" She pulled away from him again and twirled herself as if in a daydream. "Oh, Jamie! This is amazing! My acting career is starting! You have to promise me you'll be there for the third showing!"

Confused now, but with no less of smile, Jamie tilted his head. "Third? Why that one?"

"Because that is when it is still fresh in our minds and the dancing most thrives. No first show jitters, no second show rearrangements. Third showings are always the best!"

He laughed at her absurd reasoning. "I'm sure the shows will be just fine all the same. Still, if you want me there at third showing, I'll be sure to make it happen."

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" She jumped him again, wrapping her arms around his neck this time and kissing him full on the mouth.

A clearing of the throat broke them apart seconds later, Jamie now a full on scarlet and Gene happily grinning as she turned to the speaker unflinchingly. "Hi Grandma!"

With a knowing look at the both of them, the elder woman smiled kindly and spoke to her granddaughter in French, a not so rare language in Canada. The two had a small conversation, Jamie idly standing back patiently, shuffling his feet, art case back in his hand, before the grandmother turned to him.

"I'm sorry Jamie, how are you today? I haven't seen you in a while."

The man waved the apology away with a smile. "I've been great, actually. Been busy with school and internships. Gotta get money somehow, right? How about yourself Mrs. LeBeau?"

"I'm doing well. Still kickin'!" she laughed then wrapped an aged hand around Gene's wrist lightly. "But I'm afraid I must steal my granddaughter for the remainder of the day. I still owe her a cooking lesson." The woman winked.

"Grandma! Just a little longer?" Gene pulled from her relatives grasp and cuddled Jamie, giving her the puppy eyes. "Please?"

"I think granny's right, Gene," Jamie laughed, fighting the light blush on his cheeks. "It's dinner time and you need all the lessons you can get." He pulled away quickly to dodge her swipe at his head. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'm a decent cook and you know it, Jamie Bennett!"

"I don't know, my taste buds are still numb from the last meal I had," he dashed away this time when Gene came after him but was called back by Mrs. LeBeau.

"Don't be a stranger young man!" the elder woman called.

"I won't be, granny!"

"I'll get you yet you troublemaker!" Gene yelled as a farewell.

"Gotta catch me first, slowpoke!" Jamie replied in kind. Despite the disliking words, the couple blew kisses to each other and turned to where they were going beforehand, a slight breeze rustling the treetops.

It was seven by the time Jamie reached his dorm room. He sighed in exhaustion and hunger, having not eaten anything since that morning. Getting the keys out, he unlocked the door and set his stuff to the side, barely noticing how cold it was before turning on the lights and looking up.

"You know how easy it is to break into your dorm?" the lounging teen smirked from a chair, twirling the old wooden crooks staff in his hand above his head. "You should probably fix that, buddy."

"Jack!" Jamie quickly shut the door and ran to hug the immortal spirit, ignoring the immediate cold touch that came to his bare arms.

"Sup Jamie!" Jack, leaping to his feet upon his friends' cry, returned the hug and let go quickly to avoid freezing the man. He laughed as they pulled apart and rose a brow as he looked him up and down. "Dude! Did you get taller since May?" Sure enough, as Jamie looked at Jack and compared heights, he seemed to be taller by a couple inches and laughed sheepishly.

"Yeah, I guess so. I did have a huge hunger pain while you were gone."

"Man, you're so lucky," Jack pouted. "I didn't get to finish growing."

"Weren't people back then shorter anyhow?" Jamie asked with a raised brow. "There wouldn't be a difference even if you did finish growing out."

"You never know! I could've been well above average height in my time. I was taller than most other boys my age!" he stated proudly.

"And don't forget lanky."

"I'm not lanky! It's called being lean!"

Jamie chuckled. "Whatever you say, Jack."

The spirit huffed but a smirk quickly found his lips and shrugged nonchalantly. "Well I can't call you shorty ever again now can I?... But I bet that Gene character sure gets a kick out of it," Jack smirked deviously. "Smoochy, smoochy!" He made kissing noises and laughed at the red streaking across Jamie's face.

"Oh my God! You saw that!? Dude, it's August! Why are you even here?" It was a justified question, and totally not a way to deviate the conversation. Nope, not at all.

"Well when I'm looking for my best bud in the cooling hours of the day, in the only place where he could be when his poor friend is bored and in need of company, I'd expect for him to realize I'd be searching the town when not in his dorm or on campus," he put his hands up in surrender and shrugged. "But geez! If you didn't want me here, than I'll just leave." He faked tears, hiding his eyes in the crook of his arm. "Don't even tell me he's in a relationship and kicks me out. I only wanted to be a good friend!"

"Jaaack. The tear card stopped working on me a long time ago, remember?"

The winter spirit sobered up quickly and turned with a smirk. "Eh, worth another shot." They both laughed. "So you gonna tell me how this whole-" he waved his hand "-lip locking thing started?"

Cue blush. "Well... I know you don't necessarily have to eat but I'm starving. Wanna get take out with me?"

"I'm game. Anything in mind?"

"I know a nice cafe that just opened up, just down a few blocks," he grabbed his keys and jingled them. "They have some really good hot chocolate."

* * *

_**XxxX**_

* * *

"And that's how it happened."

Jack and Jamie were currently sitting outside the previously mentioned cafe on a small round table, a large cup of hot chocolate nestled between the latter's hands, and a light sweater adorning his shoulders to avoid the chill of the night. Jack, though never needing the sustenance food provided, was enjoying a warm strawberry tart as he listened to what his friend had been doing since his last appearance. No one was around, and they picked outside for a reason, so Jamie's 'talking to himself' wouldn't be noticed, but as a just in case, his phone was out and an earpiece settled in his ear for outward show.

"So she tricked you?" the teen smirked as he took another bite of the tart. "By playing hide and go seek?"

Jamie sighed but smiled fondly at the memory. "It was a good trick."

"Pfft, a novice one but I'll give her credit for knowing how to handle you." He laughed.

"You can handle me," Jamie smirked.

"Oh ho ho! That's 'cause I made you!"

"That's debatable."

Jack laughed mockingly. "You say everything is debatable!"

"'Cause it is!"

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not!"

Is too!"

Jack tapped his staff, which had been lying in his lap, against the table, freezing the surface temperature to specifically nab the mans' drink and froze it into one chocolate chunk, making Jamie yell out. "Is not. I win!"

"That's because you solve them with frost, you cheater! Anyway!-" Jamie cut off the winter spirit before another back and forth round between them started "-Other than having a girlfriend, I haven't really been doing much besides the normal school stuff. My art teacher recently assigned us to do a landscape theme for a project, my animations professor has us doing basic body structures for a final he's preparing us for, and my internship at the local graphics shop is pretty decent." He set aside the now frozen beverage (sending Jack a glare), and turned to finish his sandwich (turning the glare to a smug look as the food was good warm or cold).

"Sounds boring," Jack said bluntly, finishing his tart.

"Everything's boring to you, Jack."

"Only the things you do. All this school stuff and studying. What happened to the good old snowball fighting days?"

"We had one last winter."

"Yeah, that was fun. And hitting Gene was hilarious," Jack chuckled making Jamie roll his eyes as he stood up. "Where you going?"

"To replace my hot chocolate, duh."

"I wonder what happened to it," Jack leaned back in his seat, starring up at the star speckled sky as he whistled nonchalantly.

"Yeah, I wonder," as Jamie passed him, he made a point to tip the chair back, sending Jack tumbling backwards with a surprised yelp and a hard thud as he hit the ground.

"Jamie Bennett!" said boy laughed as he disappeared inside.

On the way back towards the dorms, the immortal and his friend chatted aimlessly back and forth, Jack updating the boy on the others and what they were doing, and Jamie asking about his family or if anything new was going on. Besides a blizzard he caused up in Alaska and the beginnings of chilly winds in the northern hemisphere, nothing was so big to report.

"Though I can't wait to bring snow back. I hate Summer and Spring."

"What about Autumn?"

"Eh, he's okay. At least he lets me chill the air. The other two won't let me touch their seasons! Always tooth and claw at the sight of me," he mimicked a cat, floating in the air to demonstrate exactly what they did, which was obviously an exaggeration. It had Jamie laughing though.

"Well they do represent warmth, you can't exactly mess with that. Especially since you can't handle the heat."

"I can for a short while.

"When it's not ninety degrees... What do you do when winter hits a desert?"

Jack thought about it, tapping a finger to his chin as he crossed his legs in the air. "I don't stay long enough to cause snow, the sun would melt it too fast to stick anyway, so I cause winds and the occasional sleet, depending on the location."

"Well that sucks for the people who live in deserts. They miss the fun of snow."

"I still give them the mountain peaks and valleys."

"Which they have to drive to."

Jack shrugged. "At least it's something. I'm not about to melt my butt off for the people who live in places ruled by the evil fires."

"Only to you are they mean."

"You haven't even met them!"

"I don't have to." Jamie grinned.

They came upon the outskirts of the dorms, walking through the small trails to Jamie's specific building. Said boy was just about to enter it as he got his keys out when a mew caught Jack's attention. The spirit turned his eye to the concrete banister that held the steps up to the dorm and was surprised to see a black cat sitting at the bottom of it, tail swishing back and forth and deep orange eyes gleaming up at him.

"Hey Jack, you coming?"

Jack turned to see Jamie already inside, holding the door open for him. He floated over, hand unusually tight on his staff. "Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"Is that the same cat from the last time I was here?"

Jamie looked over his friends' shoulder and spotted the feline, who continued to stare at them with a slight tilt of its head now. "Oh there he is. Yeah," he replied, nonchalant. "He's always been here. Roams around the campus and hangs with a few people. Not up close of course. He doesn't seem to like contact very much except for me, but I think it's because I feed him." He gave Jack a confused look. "Why do you ask?"

He never did tell Jamie that the cat always bothered him. Not afraid, just bothered. He knew animals could see and interact with things humans could not and had few follow him at few points in time but this particular animal just rubbed him the wrong way. Something in its eyes were all too knowing and seemed to look straight into his soul, picking him apart yet not. It was a silly notion and he knew it, but those eyes... he looked away from the cat and shook his head at Jamie in answer. "Do we even know how old he is? He's been here since you moved in."

Jamie shrugged. "I've been told that there's always been a black cat at this campus. Whether it's the same one, I haven't a clue. Though I doubt it, unless it's a ghost cat or breeds with other black cats." He rose a brow in amusement at the blank look Jack gave him and laughed. "Does Mr. Frost have a thing for cats?"

Jack guffawed "In your dreams! You'd probably go and tell everybody how I was 'so cute and adorable with a little kitten in my arms' if I picked up a cat." He went and changed his voice to a high pitched girly tone to make his point.

"No I wouldn't!" Jack rolled his eyes as he passed Jamie for him to close the door. Quietly, under his breath, the boy finished. "Only to Bunny."

"I heard that!"

He laughed.

When the door shut completely, and the sounds of their voices grew quieter the farther they got inside, the black cat moved. It stepped off the concrete banister to land on the ground without so much as a sound. Its orange eyes glanced up to the second story window it knew Jamie Bennett and Jack Frost resided in. But with its curiosity sated for now, it walked off into the quiet campus, disappearing between two buildings.

No one was the wiser of a random cat walking around. There were many to see that kept their distances, so what was another one. But if someone were to pay close enough attention to this particular feline, they would have noticed that it was the only black cat in the area. It wasn't normal. For as it disappeared between those two buildings, it melded with the shadows and simply vanished.

Elsewhere, however, from an alleyway on the outskirts of town, emerged a figure dressed in purple and orange colors. All but the lower half of her face was covered in cloth. A cowl barely shadows pink lips pressed tight together that gave away nothing. And like the black cat, no one was the wiser as she walked out of the city limits, a single thought running rampant in her head.

_Ignorance is desolate._

* * *

_**XxxX**_

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_ Hey guys! Welcome to my story! So this is a test chapter of sorts! I'm trying something a little different than what I usually write and since I have a current obsession with 'Rise of the Guardians' and MiM's books, I decided that this will suffice and that I hope everyone likes it! This is first chapter jitters I'm getting and that you see, so I may or may not change some stuff later on. Please review if you like it! I would really appreciate the feedback! :D

Also bear with me on any mistakes you see as this is self beta'd.

Review please! I'd appreciate the criticism!


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